


Figure It Out

by nauticaminus



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Feelings? Oh no we don’t have those on Caminus, Fluff to come, Its alien stuff I can make up whatever I want, Nautica loves her friends, Skids is an unintentional sweetheart, Space Adventure, The Transformers: Lost Light, The Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye (IDW), deep emotional conversations, kind of AU in that I moved an event for plot convenience, rated teen because I’ll probably swear sometime, will add tags as story progresses
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-04
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:21:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24540715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nauticaminus/pseuds/nauticaminus
Summary: After getting lost together on a planetary excursion their Captain dragged them on, Nautica and Skids deal with unfamiliar feelings towards eachother, and end up solving two mysteries: Why are these rocks glowing, and what is this weird feeling I get when you laugh?Or, Nautica accidentally curses an expedition.
Relationships: Nautica/Skids (Transformers)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 10





	1. How This Whole Mess Started

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I’ve never posted a Transformers fic before, and I’m still getting used to all the terminology, so please let me know if I make a mistake.
> 
> Also, the POV will switch back and forth, just as a heads-up.
> 
> Thank you, and enjoy!

Deep within the dark and beautiful hues of space, rich with exotic planets and exploding stars, a singular spaceship drifted along, following a starmap you could not remember—with a few pit stops.

In that dark blue of space, the surface of a colorful planet below came into view of the two Autobots that stood by a window, watching with curious delight as the ship they called home slowly descended upon the newfound ground. The smaller one pressed herself against the glass, her optics twinkling like the stars in the distance.

“What are you thinking?” The larger one asked, leaning against the pane and turning his gaze down to her.

“I’m  _ thinking  _ that we’re about to have a field day. I mean, look at this!” She exclaimed, pushing herself back and gesturing to the surface. “I’ve never seen such a bright ecosystem—don’t you want to find out what’s down there?”

“Of course I do,” The mech replied, his attention now shifting to the planet below. “I just have a feeling that a certain someone will send us on a discovery mission regardless of our personal curiosity.” He gave her an amused look: It certainly wouldn’t be the first time, after all. When it came to surprise expeditions, the two bots were often recruited for their exceptional range of knowledge—not to mention their shared penchant for adventure, a trait they also had in common with their oh-so-lovable captain. 

As if on cue, the intercom above them crackled to life, and a familiar voice boomed out.

“Greetings! This is your captain speaking— _ what? No, I don’t have to say my name, they know- they can tell I’m not-  _ ugh, hold on.” The two bots exchanged a look, then glanced back up as the intercom came on again.

“Hi, it’s Rodimus, NOT Megatron, although I don’t know why anyone would THINK it’s Megatron, since we sound nothing alike.  Anyway,”—he made a loud coughing sound, and you could almost hear the glare he shot at someone else in the room.—“As you can tell, we’ve made a landing, and  _ I’m _ going to lead an expedition onto this planet to see if we can find anything, uh, useful. That being said, would Perceptor, Brainstorm, Skids, Nightbeat, Nautica, and Swerve please report to the bridge? Oh, and Swerve—bring some engex. Please. Okay, Rodimus out!” 

The two Autobots, Skids and Nautica, grinned to eachother, wordlessly amused by his antics. It was comforting, in a way, to have a constant in an otherwise hectic lifestyle, even that if that constant was being dragged on adventures by an..  _ eccentric _ leader.

“We had better get going before he leaves us behind,” Nautica commented, picking up her wrench from the windowsill and starting down the hallway. “He might get so excited he forgets to do a headcount.” 

“No way, with Ultra Magnus there? He’s probably got an attendance sheet.” Skids took a prolonged glance out the window before following after her. “I’m more worried about getting scolded for showing up late.” They both chuckled at that, the air falling into a cheerful silence as they made their way down to the bridge.

——- 

“Hey, over here!” As the two walked into the room, Nautica’s attention was turned towards Brainstorm, who had called them over. A smile grew on her faceplate as she made her way over to the mech—it was always a pleasure to see one of her Amicas, after all. 

“I take it we’re being enlisted?” She asked him, glancing back as Skids wandered off to talk to Swerve, who was holding what looked like an entire crate of engex bottles.

“You guessed it. Not that I mind, and I’m certain you don’t either. Plus, Percy’s coming, so, added bonus.” Brainstorm replied casually, eliciting a exasperated noise from Perceptor and a roll of his optics as he approached the two. 

“I’m not, actually. Rodimus just called me down here to make sure he wouldn’t “explode the second I walked out”, as he put it. And I wouldn’t be accompanying you anyway—I’m still busy reorganizing the lab after  your  incident.” He jabbed an accusatory finger at Brainstorm, who responded by putting up his servos innocently. Nautica could almost swear he was grinning under his faceplate, though. 

“Well, we’ll bring you back something fun!” She told him cheerily. “Who knows, maybe we’ll find a new species. Or a brand new kind of fungi!” 

“Yeah, or something explosive for me to play with!” Brainstorm chipped in with a tone to match hers, earning another glare from Perceptor. 

Before the other mech could get a chance to reply, however, Whirl burst dramatically into the room, followed by Rung and Nightbeat, respectively—two of her other Amicas. The singular-opticced mech marched up to Rodimus and started shouting something about how he should get to go, and how bad it would be for him to be holed up in the ship, which caused Ultra Magnus to step in and start lecturing him about how poorly his recent adventure went—very chaotically, Nautica had heard—and Rodimus to adopt an expression of pure exasperation.

Nightbeat and Rung made their way over to her, the latter looking as though he had just spent the past two cycles teaching turbofoxes to read. She gave the therapist a sympathetic look, patting him on the shoulder. Whirl was.. fun, and a good friend, at times, but he had his more exhausting moments too—and Rung, being his psychiatrist, knew that better than anyone.

Nightbeat, however, looked much less tired, and instead seemed as though he would burst from excitement. “You know, this planet is supposedly uninhabited, but I’m willing to bet I can find traces of intelligent life within three—no, two cycles.”

“I’ll put shanix on that,” Skids commented, returning to their small group accompanied by Swerve and a few bottles of engex. He passed one to Nautica, making a small comment to reassure her that it was, in fact, triple-filtered: her preferred and only way of drinking it.

“With luck, it will be an eventful exploration for you all.” Rung took a bottle of engex himself, although he eyed it warily, likely not keen on drinking anything too strong.

“Yeah, I’d go, but it’s tough work running a bar.” Swerve piped up, passing out the last bottle to Nightbeat and setting the crate down. “I could always leave Bluestreak in charge, but the last time I did that, he put on Episode 21, Season 4 of  _ Friends_, which everyone knows is the absolute worst episode. I mean, it was just _so_ unnecessary for Rachel to...” The minibot’s rambling continued, and Nautica sent a confused look to Skids, who returned it with a shrug. Maybe it was a Cybertronian thing, she guessed, one of many small norms that they didn’t have on Caminus.

Or, judging by everyone else’s equally confused expressions, maybe it was just Swerve. 

All voices went silent as a giant silver mech entered the room, every optic turning towards the former Decepticon leader and current co-captain. Whether the silence came from respect, awe, or lingering fear, she did not know. 

The anger and terror that so many aboard the ship felt towards him, Nautica could not understand. Her absence from the war left a lack of tension between her and any former deceptions—or “Not-Decepticons”, as Cyclonus would say. Regardless, the femme considered Megatron to be a good bot, a good leader, and above all else, a good friend. But it wasn’t hard to get on Nautica’s good side, and after all he’d done for them so far, she found herself thinking rather highly of their co-captain.

“Megatron!” Rodimus greeted, an enthusiastic sound in the otherwise quiet room, and a huge tension-reliever. The flame-coated captain approached the bigger bot, patting his chestplate with a grin. “Looks like we’re all set to go, then. And yes, Whirl is coming.” Ultra Magnus began to protest, but the bow-legged bot had already whooped in excitement and scuttered towards the door, not bothering to wait for the rest of the group. 

——-

In present company were Rodimus and Megatron, who were leading the exploration team, which consisted of Nautica, Skids, Nightbeat, Brainstorm, and Whirl. 

Rung, Swerve, Perceptor, and Ultra Magnus had bid them farewell at the bridge after they’d finished their drinks, and the group had set off onto the planet, most eager for discovery, and some just looking for something to fight. 

“I’m hoping for a giant monster. Just something I can blast to pieces, you know?” Whirl made the motion of an explosion with his claws as they walked, to which Megatron made a tired look. 

“It’s probably better not to disturb the ecosystem.” Nautica said softly, although one look at Brainstorm could tell that he wouldn’t mind exploding something either. 

“But we’ll let you know if we find something dangerous,” Her optics shifted to Skids as he pitched in, but she made no comment in reply, feeling as though if she assured that there was no danger she would end up jinxing it and land them all in some sort of karmatic issue. 

After a short hike, Rodimus suggested that they split ways when Nightbeat expressed interest in venturing towards the forested area. “We’ll meet back at the ship in five cycles. Megs, Whirl and I will go up to the mountains, and you all can go down to the forest to do your.. plant research, or whatever.” Nautica scoffed at his disregard, but said nothing, knowing Rodimus was already focused on his trip up the cliffs. It wasn’t like he was entirely wrong, anyway.

So, the four of them bid the other three goodbye and started towards the forest, a lush area with brightly colored fungi and moss. 

It truly was a beautiful place, Nautica remarked: the forest was set on a cliffside, and in the canyon below was a rushing river, surrounded by even more trees and various other plantlife. 

After taking in the sight with a pleased expression, the violet femme squatted down, getting to work on documenting the traits of each new sight. She thumbed over a hot pink mushroom, writing down the properties of it with her free hand as she turned it in the other. In truth, she was hoping to find a connection between the life on this planet and the flora in other parts of the galaxy—after all, if there was a hidden link, there was a mystery to be solved.

Speaking of mystery solving... Nautica glanced over at Nightbeat, who had begun to wander down a trail, obviously consumed with something. 

“Find anything?” She called, standing to her pedes and brushing the dust off of her legs. He didn’t seem to hear her, lost in thought as he kneeled down to examine something on the ground. Brainstorm was watching the mech with mild fascination, so she came up beside him, assuming he knew what was going on.

“He found tracks,” Brainstorm explained, gesturing to a small marking on the ground. Nautica wasn’t really sure she would call that tracks, but if Nightbeat had a hunch, there was no stopping him. Brainstorm seemed interested in following the trail as well, so she waved them off with a smile. 

“You two go ahead. Skids and I will go back and meet up with Rodimus and the others, so don’t worry about us.”

“Great. See you in a few cycles, then—and both of our comms are on if you find something.”

“Yep. Be careful!” Nautica called to them as Brainstorm jogged to catch up with Nightbeat. “And have fun!” 

She kept an optic on them until they were out of sight, smiling with a certain fondness for her close friends. It was nice, after spending so long on her home planet alone, to find other bots who shared her passion for discovery. Primus, she loved being on the Lost Light.

With a satisfied vent, Nautica turned back, heading over to Skids, who was examining something on the ground.

“Hi,” She greeted, placing a servo on his shoulderplate.

“Hi!” Was his response, standing up as she did so.

“I take it you heard, but Stormy and Nightbeat left to follow some tracks, and said they’d meet us back at the ship.” Her optics turned, as she explained, to the object he held in his servos, curious to see what it was. “So, um, I guess it’s just you and me. What do you have there?” She pointed a finger at it, prompting him to hold it out to her, and revealing what looked to be a small green stone.

“Found it next to a bunch of grey stones. Stood out to me because of the stark color difference. But look, check this out.” Skids cupped his servos around it, causing it to glow a bright teal in the makeshift darkness.

“It’s Bioluminescent!” Nautica exclaimed, taking the rock from him and turning it over in her fingers. 

“Certainly is. But here’s the question, my dear Nautica,” He said, pulling her over to where he found it. “If this rock has bioluminescent properties, but none of it’s little friends here do, then where...”

“... did it come from?” She finished, handing the rock back to him and scanning the area. He was right, there was absolutely no other sign of any glowing objects, and other than a few plants and trees, there wasn’t even anything else green. 

“Precisely. My guess is either that it came from up there,” He pointed to the cliff above them, “or from down there, somehow.” He then turned his finger to the canyon below, where deep within the rushing water, the faintest sparkle of green could be spotted.

Nautica made a sound of amazement, eliciting a pleased grin from her Amica. “It’s a shame we have no way of getting down there to check it out.” She remarked, stepping closer to the edge in order to get a better look. “I suppose we can see if Brainstorm would be willing to fly down and scope it out when we meet back up. Otherwise, it’s far too long of a fall for us.”

  
Skids shrugged in return, stepping up next to her and peering over the cliff. “Yeah, I’d rather not risk it. And glowing rocks aside,” He folded his arms, lifting his gaze to the vast forest. “It’s just nice to share a pretty view with you.”

Nautica turned her face up to him in surprise, the comment causing her processor to get all jumbled and rendering her unable to speak. A familiar feeling burst up in her spark, the same one she had felt when they’d danced together onboard the Vis Vitalis, and one she still had trouble placing. 

“Yeah, it’s.. nice. With you too, I me—“ She never got to finish her sentence, as a horrible _**CRACK**_ resounded, and the cliff beneath her pedes crumbled and slipped away, sending her plummeting down the canyon before she could even realize what was happening.

The last thing Nautica recalled before she blacked out completely was Skids shouting something and diving after her. Her helm smashed against something, hard, and everything went dark.

When she would later wake up with a wicked headache, she’d curse herself for jinxing it by standing so close to the edge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter two coming soon! Please leave a comment or a kudos if you enjoyed, and thanks for reading!
> 
> Side Note: Nautica’s Amica Endura ritual with Skids, Nightbeat, Rung, Velocity, and Brainstorm canonically happens at the end of MTMTE, but this AU has it before that for personal convenience.


	2. Totally, Officially, Stranded

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skids and Nautica find themselves in an unfortunate predicament after their fall—but at least they’re still standing. Sort of.

_** CRACK! ** _

The sound nearly sent Skids jumping out of his frame, and before he could even regain his senses, the cliff beneath Nautica’s feet had crumbled and pulled her away, far out of his reach. 

Without a second thought, he grit his teeth and plunged himself off the cliff, aiming to grab ahold of her and at least cushion her fall. Just as he reached his servos out to her, shouting her name, the jagged edge of a protruding cliff hit the back of her helm and knocked the lights right out of her optics.  _ Scrap_.

Skids managed to miss the edge and push himself off of the cliffside, wrapping his arms around her, shutting his optics tight, and hoping for the best.

They fell through open air for what seemed eons, and by time Skids peered his optics open, he was already being plunged into the icy river. All grasp of his surroundings had been completely lost within a matter of kliks. His vision blurred, his audials screeched, and  _ Primus_, his head hurt. 

But in the dizziness of the rushing water around him, he spotted a flash of bright purple, and instinct pushed him towards it. He managed to grab ahold of her arm, dragging them both above water before the current could sweep her away.

_ Where am I? Am I even still alive?  _ Skids questioned frantically to himself, helm swiveling around as he tried to work out his surroundings. A splash of cold water slapped him across the face just as he resurfaced. He was alive, all right. 

He pulled the femme closer to him, bracing himself as the river slammed them into a rock. With his free servo, Skids grabbed the edge of it, and grimaced as the water pulled him back, doing everything he could just to hold on. 

Some survivalist instinct in the back of his mind told him it would be so much easier without this extra weight, but... no, he would never. He scoffed at the thought, using it to bring himself back to reality as he started to tug them both towards shore. It’d be cruel, first of all, to let go of her, not to mention horribly unloyal to his Amica Endura’s safety. But above all else, Skids knew for a fact that if their positions were reversed, she’d swim through lava to save him.

_ That’s just how  she is_, he figured, finally grabbing ahold of a treebranch near the riverbank.  _ Horribly reckless_ _and stands too close to cliffs_.

Alright, maybe the cliff thing was on him. 

Regardless, his mind refocused to the task at hand and he managed to gather enough traction to toss the other bot onto dry land, then sequentially pull himself out after.

Talk about a miserable time.

Skids collapsed on the ground, allowing his aching chassis to rest for a moment. He would  _ kill _ for a drink at Swerve’s right about now. Hell, he’d even watch more of those weird Earth shows he liked to play if it meant getting out of this canyon. 

After laying facedown in the dirt for a while, Skids let out a huff and pushed himself up to a sitting position. His focus then turned to Nautica, who was collapsed a few feet away, and winced as he noticed a bright pink splash of energon on the ground—she was hurt. They were both pretty banged up, but an open wound was worse: there was no medic around, and even if there was, there were absolutely no medical supplies. 

At the very least, she wasn’t dead. Definitely knocked out, though. And the energon leak seemed to be coming from a gash in her legplate—must have hit a rock or something. 

Getting to his pedes, Skids squatted down and lifted Nautica up, readjusting her in his arms before switching his communicator on and starting a trek upstream.

“Hello, Captain? Brainstorm? It’s Skids, Nautica and I fell down a cliff and we need backup. Pretty urgently. Out.” _Click_.

He waited a bit. No response. That’s weird. 

“Hello? Can anyone hear me?”  _ Click_.

Great. So his comms were offline, or busted, or something. What a wonderful day this was shaping up to be. He walked along the riverside for a little longer, trying to work out a backup plan. Unfortunately, most of his ideas, such as climbing up the cliffwall, or managing to create some sort of explosion as a signal, were halted by two things: One, he was hauling around an unconscious bot, and two, he had absolutely no idea where he was. Even if he did create a flare, who’s to say that anyone would even see it? And climbing up the wall would get him on the same level as the others, sure, but he’d still be utterly lost. And as long as Nautica was knocked out, there wasn’t much he could do about getting her to safety, and it wasn’t like he could just  _ leave _her.

Skids let out a long and grueling sigh. As far as excursions go, this was not the greatest. 

He glanced down at Nautica, who looked terribly fragile in his arms, a characteristic unbefitting of her personality. At a time like this, she’d probably say something along the lines of,  _Hey, at least we’re not being hunted by murder-crazed Ammonites_ _! _

_ Yeah, you’re right_,  Skids thought to himself, knowing how the conversation would play out. _ Could be a lot worse. _

After walking for as long as he could, Skids stopped at a cliff wall, gently setting Nautica down against it before collapsing next to her, letting out heavy vents. He just needed to sit and recharge for a bit before carrying on, he decided. 

Just for a little bit.

——-

When Nautica finally came to, the first thing she noticed was that her head hurt like  _ hell. _The next thing she noticed was that she had absolutely no idea where she was. She raised a servo to her head frantically, immediately attempting to stand up, but was stopped by a flashing pain in her leg that caused her to slam back down and make a sharp wince of discomfort. _What the frag_ _ happened_?

While her optics were focused on her own leg, she then noticed a second leg stretched out next to hers, which, as she soon realized, was connected to a bot, who was—

Oh, Skids!

Her memory came rushing back as suddenly as she saw his face, recalling her tumble off the cliff and him jumping after her. They were still on the planet, then, and by how beat up they both looked, apparently they’d hit the ground. 

Skids looked like had dozed off; or at least, she hoped he’d dozed off, an outcome she much preferred to any other possibility.

With a worried expression, Nautica reached over and shook his shoulderplate gently in an attempt to rouse him. “Skids? Are you alright?”

That seemed to do it. The mech beside her gasped and sprung forward, optics flashing open in surprise. “How long was I—where—“ He blurted out a few questions before locking sights with her, which seemed to calm him down. “Nautica, you’re awake, good. Are you okay?” He breathed out, apparently still waking up.

“I’m fine. Well,” She glanced down at the gash in her legplate with a frown. “I’m alive, at least. But answer my question, are _y_ _o_ _u _ alright?” Without thinking, she reached out a servo to him, which he met in his own and squeezed it tightly. 

“Yeah. Like you said... alive. Can you stand?”

Nautica shook her head, placing her free servo on her wounded legplate. “The best I could do is limp, I think. Did you radio for help?”

“I did. No one’s answering, but there’s no white noise, either, so they’re not ignoring us—I think my comm was busted in the fall. Either that, or something is interfering with the signal.” Skids explained, letting go of her servo to push himself off the ground and stand up. “Don’t you have a wide-signal communicator?”

“Oh, yes. It’s on my....” Nautica patted the ground beside her, grabbing for something that wasn’t there. “...wrench? Where’s my wrench?” She looked about herself frantically, then turned to look up at Skids, utterly distraught. Losing her wrench was like.... like, losing an entire servo. 

Skids looked pensive for a moment, turning his attention to the cliffs above. “Well.. you were holding it when you fell, I remember that. But when I got you out of the river, you weren’t holding it, so... likely, it’s somewhere downstream.”

... River? Downstream? 

_ My wrench... is downstream _ _..... in a river.... on an unfamiliar planet.... and it’s probably our only chance of getting help_. 

Nautica put her head in her servos. She felt like she was about to burst into tears.

Apparently Skids took notice of this, because she felt a gentle pat on her shoulder, which pulled her attention upwards to his face.

“Hey, we’ll find it, don’t worry. And they wouldn’t leave without us—chances are they’ll notice we’re missing when they head back to the ship, and come looking for us.” His attempt to console her was reassuring, but she still felt pretty crummy about the whole situation.

Skids extended a servo out to her, to which she frowned, then wiped her optics and grabbed ahold of it, using it to pull herself up on shaky legs. “You’re right, I know.. I just can’t help but feel like this is my fault, somehow.”

“What? What makes you say that?” He questioned, pulling her arm over his shoulder to help her walk and starting to guide them down the riverbank. 

“I don’t know.. I’ve had a really bad unlucky streak lately.” Nautica sighed, optics turning up to the sky as they moved. “Like, Perceptor asked for my help in cleaning up the lab, but I accidentally dropped a beaker containing one of Brainstorm’s concoctions—he said not to worry about it, and that he’d handle it, but I still felt _miserable_. And the other day, I was trying to help Velocity out by organizing her patient documents, but I slipped and broke the datapad they were on. And then, at Swerve’s—“ Nautica stopped sharply when her leg suddenly buckled beneath her, causing her to hiss in pain as Skids caught her before she fell. After helping her back up, he made a thoughtful look, pursing his lips in thought.

“Here, I have an idea. Hold on.” The mech let go of her momentarily to step back and transform into his alt mode, then turned around and honked. “Climb on—it’s easier to carry you like this, and we’ll get downstream a lot faster.”

Satisfied with the idea, Nautica hobbled over and did her best to clamber on top of him, taking a minute before finally getting settled in a sitting position and holding onto two latches on his roof. Once she was secure, Skids turned back around and began driving downstream alongside the river, leaving her to sit and examine the river for any sign of her wrench as they went along.

“Hey, Nauts,” He spoke up after a while, turning her attention down towards him. “I can’t really fix your luck thing, but I will say this—

You have a  _ bewildering _intelligence, you’re  _ unbelievably_ kind, and on top of that, you’re one of my best friends in the whole _universe._ And even if you have some terrible curse attached to you, you still try to help everybody out when you can, and I really, truly admire that.” 

Nautica’s faceplate heated up in confusion as he spoke, her processor once again becoming terribly jumbled as an unfamiliar and simultaneously uncanny feeling rose up in her spark. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out, so she just clamped it shut, not sure what she would say even if she could talk.

“I guess what I mean is, don’t worry about it, you know? You’re a good person, Nautica. And sometimes...” Skids trailed off, as if something had stopped him momentarily from continuing. 

“Sometimes.. bad things happen to good people.”

She didn’t notice it until a wet speck hit her chestplate, but a glittering tear had dripped from her optics when she’d taken in what he said. Breathing in and releasing a deep vent, Nautica finally smiled and patted the roof of his alt mode affectionately.

“You’re right. Being hard on myself now won’t do us any good, anyway.” 

Apparently satisfied with her answer, Skids went quiet and continued down the riverside, the air falling into that comfortable silence they so often shared.

——-

Unbeknownst to the two Autobots, in the far off distance, a scientist and a detective, who assumed that their missing friends had already returned to the ship with their Captain, climbed onboard and announced that they were done with their expedition and were ready to get a move on from this exotic planet.

And their Captain, assuming that said missing friends had returned with aforementioned scientist and detective, agreed to “get this show on the road”, as he put it, likely eliciting a shared rolling of the optics from his Co-Captain and Second in Command.

——-

“Got it!” Skids exclaimed, snatching a glittering silver wrench out of a more shallow and calmer part of the river, where it had drifted down after it’s owner’s unfortunate tumble. He then tossed it to Nautica, who caught it with surprising ease and a relieved grin.

“It’s been about five cycles, they should be back at the ship by now—I’ll see if I can get to Brainstorm.” Nautica fiddled with her wrench, sliding open a panel and revealing a small communicator as Skids waded out of the water and sat down next to her on the bank.

Just as she had pressed the button to speak, the deafening sound of an engine roaring to life drowned out all other noise. Both pairs of optics turned up to the sky, just in time to spot the Lost Light taking to the stars.

Without them.

While Nautica was left gaping at the clouds, Skids lowered his head into his servos in desperation.

“ _ Shit_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was ultimately more fun to write than chapter one, since it’s heavier on interaction.. the next few will be jampacked with that fun Nautiskids stuff so stay tuned!  
> I’ll try to upload a new chapter at least every three days, if not less.  
> As always, thanks for reading, and leave a comment or kudos if you enjoyed!


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